Islander Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 16 hours ago, MeloManiac said: I have a 3 sided album of Diana Krall, Turn up the quiet. Side D is one long, empty track. I can't understand why they didn't put some bonus tracks there. An empty track is useful though, to test gear for instance... But I like Krall's voice better. You know what they could have done with the blank side? Left it actually blank, without a groove, so that at least you could use it to check and set your anti-skating correctly. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 Does anyone remember when double albums were pressed so that Side A was backed with Side D, and Side B was backed with Side C? This was so that when you put them on a record changer, the B side could drop down and play right after the A side. Then you could flip them over, and Side C would be followed by Side D. Later, after record changers became less popular, double albums were pressed so that A was backed with B, and C was backed with D. Some old double albums eventually came in both versions. I was long used to the original (changer) version of Electric Ladyland, so when I was at a party and saw the new version, I was pretty amazed to see Side A on the back of Side B, since this was never announced anywhere that I read, it was just something that I noticed one day. I recall that I could hardly believe what I was looking at, but I was in a party state of mind at the time, so... 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Gregory Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 47 minutes ago, Islander said: Does anyone remember when double albums were pressed so that Side A was backed with Side D, and Side B was backed with Side C? I remember this, 😆 Even then I did not think it was a good idea to drop one album on top of another one. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang_flht Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 On 6/20/2021 at 2:36 AM, Islander said: The only 3-sided album I’m familiar with is the old Johnny Winter one. The explanation for that album being 3-sided was that there weren’t enough songs for a double album, but if they crammed them all onto a single disc, they would have to compromise the recording level, and the volume would be too low as a result. Is that why this album of yours is like this? I have the QOTSA Villains album with 3 sides. Be careful there are drawings on the D side, so above all, do not put a high-end, fragile cartridge on this kind of engraving, you risk breaking the point. And in addition there are several versions. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang_flht Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 Mine sorry for the bad photo 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Full Range Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 3 hours ago, Islander said: Does anyone remember when double albums were pressed so that Side A was backed with Side D, and Side B was backed with Side C? I do remember and probably have some in the collection Read somewhere ( probably on this fine thread ) that it’s for automatic record changers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezin' Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I have a classical collection from Time/Life that is like that. But with 8 sides to choose from. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 8 hours ago, Jim Gregory said: I remember this, 😆 Even then I did not think it was a good idea to drop one album on top of another one. You would think so, but nearly all LPs are shaped so that they're thicker at the edge and under the label, in order to prevent damage to the musical part of the record when another one is dropped onto it. Unless there's a fairly large lump stuck to one of the discs, the grooves should not be harmed by changers. That said, I haven't bought a changer since 1977. It would be nice to have auto-lift at the end of the side, so I may look for one of those little gadgets for my Technics deck at some point, but no more dropping records onto each other for me. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtmudd Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 3 hours ago, Islander said: You would think so, but nearly all LPs are shaped so that they're thicker at the edge and under the label, in order to prevent damage to the musical part of the record when another one is dropped onto it. Unless there's a fairly large lump stuck to one of the discs, the grooves should not be harmed by changers. That said, I haven't bought a changer since 1977. It would be nice to have auto-lift at the end of the side, so I may look for one of those little gadgets for my Technics deck at some point, but no more dropping records onto each other for me. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezin' Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 First time in awhile............... 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 12 hours ago, Islander said: You would think so, but nearly all LPs are shaped so that they're thicker at the edge and under the label, in order to prevent damage to the musical part of the record when another one is dropped onto it. Unless there's a fairly large lump stuck to one of the discs, the grooves should not be harmed by changers. That said, I haven't bought a changer since 1977. It would be nice to have auto-lift at the end of the side, so I may look for one of those little gadgets for my Technics deck at some point, but no more dropping records onto each other for me. Also, if not thicker at the edge, wouldn't there be a vacuum between stacked records and then they would stick together? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, MeloManiac said: Also, if not thicker at the edge, wouldn't there be a vacuum between stacked records and then they would stick together? Have seen records stuck together momentarily... nothing serious. It seems a vacuum can be created. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, MeloManiac said: Also, if not thicker at the edge, wouldn't there be a vacuum between stacked records and then they would stick together? Maybe, but I have seen a few records that were the same thickness right across the disc, and have never heard of records sticking together because of vacuum. However, static electricity could be another matter. Some LPs pick up such a strong charge while being played that they stick to the platter so strongly that they bend when I go to lift them off it. Those constant-thickness discs were usually from some small record company, but I don’t know why. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 "Find your inner calm with the iFi ZEN phono" That's what is referred to on the box of what I got in the mail today. I'd been sitting on the fence for this budget audiophile grade phono stage, and last week I found one in the open box section of a European shop, grade A, so I bought it. These are my first impressions. I'm comparing with built in phono stages of my vintage Onkyo amp, a H/K 430 and a brandless, China made phono stage of 44 euro. That last one I used with my Leben CS300, which must have been insulted by it - if it were a person - and it also had a hiss in left hand channel, which annoyed me, and was the reason for having it replaced. For those who are less familiar with iFi: they are a British company, producing high end audio gear (mostly DACs and in-betweens). They also sell small but pricy high end phono preamps. iFi's ZEN series is their budget tier, which offers a lot of value for money because some of the high-end technology has trickled down to the ZEN level... So... my first reactions. Well, I had prepared a stack of my favourite vinyl albums, and while listening to those, I thought, okay, well perhaps the reviewers are right: the staging is nice and wide, even 3d, and there is 'total darkness' when no music is playing, and the lows and highs are well ballanced. But my cheap China phono stage does that too, mostly, for a quarter of the price, if you forget about the hiss in the left channel for a moment. So did I make a mistake buying this? It was only when I listened to my second stack of albums I had prepared, that the iFi started shining and making a difference. This stack contains 'difficult' albums, some iconic, but for some reason, they never really sounded good on my system. Just to name one, Bruce Springsteen's Burn to Run. I've had this album for a very long time, and love all the songs on it, but somehow, it never sounded 'right' on my Leben CS300 + Heresy combination. Now it does. The same with vintage vinyl classical music albums (from the pre-barcode era): gone is the grainy sound, now they sound just right, and clean. At the moment I'm grading exams (!), so there's still many hours of music I will be listening too while doing that. Listing to vinyl records is great when grading, because it forces you out of your chair every 25 minutes or so (better for my back...) 😉 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtmudd Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 2 hours ago, MeloManiac said: "Find your inner calm with the iFi ZEN phono" That's what is referred to on the box of what I got in the mail today. I'd been sitting on the fence for this budget audiophile grade phono stage, and last week I found one in the open box section of a European shop, grade A, so I bought it. These are my first impressions. I'm comparing with built in phono stages of my vintage Onkyo amp, a H/K 430 and a brandless, China made phono stage of 44 euro. That last one I used with my Leben CS300, which must have been insulted by it - if it were a person - and it also had a hiss in left hand channel, which annoyed me, and was the reason for having it replaced. For those who are less familiar with iFi: they are a British company, producing high end audio gear (mostly DACs and in-betweens). They also sell small but pricy high end phono preamps. iFi's ZEN series is their budget tier, which offers a lot of value for money because some of the high-end technology has trickled down to the ZEN level... So... my first reactions. Well, I had prepared a stack of my favourite vinyl albums, and while listening to those, I thought, okay, well perhaps the reviewers are right: the staging is nice and wide, even 3d, and there is 'total darkness' when no music is playing, and the lows and highs are well ballanced. But my cheap China phono stage does that too, mostly, for a quarter of the price, if you forget about the hiss in the left channel for a moment. So did I make a mistake buying this? It was only when I listened to my second stack of albums I had prepared, that the iFi started shining and making a difference. This stack contains 'difficult' albums, some iconic, but for some reason, they never really sounded good on my system. Just to name one, Bruce Springsteen's Burn to Run. I've had this album for a very long time, and love all the songs on it, but somehow, it never sounded 'right' on my Leben CS300 + Heresy combination. Now it does. The same with vintage vinyl classical music albums (from the pre-barcode era): gone is the grainy sound, now they sound just right, and clean. At the moment I'm grading exams (!), so there's still many hours of music I will be listening too while doing that. Listing to vinyl records is great when grading, because it forces you out of your chair every 25 minutes or so (better for my back...) 😉 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 6/21/2021 at 9:07 AM, Islander said: Does anyone remember when double albums were pressed so that Side A was backed with Side D, and Side B was backed with Side C? This was so that when you put them on a record changer, the B side could drop down and play right after the A side. Then you could flip them over, and Side C would be followed by Side D. Later, after record changers became less popular, double albums were pressed so that A was backed with B, and C was backed with D. Side ABCD??? ADBC???? Why keep it that simple? Radiohead's OK Computer brings this to a whole other level, and making sure the print on the record label is illegibly small too. (for the uninformed, it's a tripple album) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Full Range Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 10 hours ago, MeloManiac said: "Find your inner calm with the iFi ZEN phono" Congrats on the new phono I have recommended the Iphono II to a few people 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang_flht Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Yes ! Congrats on the new phono 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1291 Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Ditto to what they said! It should do a good job ad sound great! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1291 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Just passin thru... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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